Envelop-feeder.



1,005,518. Patented Oct. 10, 1911.

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0. L. DAVIS.

ENVBLOP FEEDER. APPLICATION FILED APR. 9, 1910.

Patnted 0ct.10,1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- G. L. DAVIS. BNVELOP FEEDER. APPLICATION FILED APR. 9,1910.

Patented Oct. 10, 1911.

3 BHEETSSHEET 3.

Zluumtur Eilnrssrs UNITED STATES CHARLES L. DAVIS, F DETROIT, MICHIGAN.-

ENVELOP-FEEDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 10, 1911.

Application filed April 9, 1910. Serial No. 554,425.

- To all whom it my concern:

- typewriter behind the Be it known that I, CHARLES L. DAVIS, a citizenof the United States, residin at Detroit, county of. lVayne, State ofMEM- gen, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inEnvelop-Feeders, and. declare the following to be afull, clear, andexact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to envelop feeders.

It has for its object an improved attachment adapted to be used inconnection with typewriters or other addressing machines for the purposeof feeding to the platen or printing roll envelops to be used in themachine, and for the purpose of removing the envelop from the platenafter it has been printed and contemporaneously with the insertion of anew envelop upon which the succeeding imprint is to be made.

The drawings are diagrammatic.

In the drawings :Figure' 1, is a-side elevation indicating thetypewriting machine andshowing a side elevation of the attachment. Fig.2, is a section on a surface parallel with the plane of thesideelevation of Fig. 1. Fig. 3, is a front elevation of the storagehop-per. Fig. 4, is a cross section through the platen and the primaryreceiver of the printed envelops. Fig. 5, is a detail showing in partthe end of the storage hopper used where large numbers of envelops areto be printed. Fig. 6, is a front elevation on a smaller Scale of thebearing late 6 shown'on F ig. 1. Fig. 7, is a detail e evation, partlyin section, of the spring supported primary actuating bellows and itsadjacent parts.

The attachment consists of a hopper in which a number of envelops arelaced and arranged with that edge of each f om which the usualsealingfiapextends, placed to the bottom 'of the hopper. envelop underthe flap and between the'flap and the body part of the envelop andpushes it out from the hopper onto the paper guide laten of thetypewriter, and inem underneath the platen of the that the rollingplaten continues to move the envelop forward; and it is brought around'to proper posltlon for the. op ,-a.'fter which the.

A finger engages the serts it so platen continues its feeding movement,and carries it up betweenv guides and it comes to rest with the bottomedge (the edge opposite the flap edge) resting on the top run of theplaten and wit-h the 'envelo itself resting in an inclined positionagainst the rest or against an envelop that has .been previously treatedwhere it remains until the operator of the typewriter desires toremovethe addressed envelop from its position, or, if the receiving hopper 16is employed, the finger which feeds the on-coming envelops grasps thefinished envelop the guide plate 6 and drops it into the storage hopper16, where it remains until the accumulation is removed by some. means.

The primary receiving or storage hopper 1 is mounted at the rear of thetypewriter on suitable supports 2 properly secured. and braced to thetypewriter frame and arranged with its bottom 3 inclined to the plane ofthe table upon which the typewriter rests. The hopper 1 is provided with'a follower 4 that rests upon the bottom 3 of the hopper, and maintainsthe envelo s contained in the hopper, and in front of t e follower in asufficiently compact relation so that the foremost of the envelops engaes quite closely against the end 5 at .the front of the hopper. Thelower edge of the end 5 is so far spaced from the lower front end of thebottom 8 of the hopper that an envelop may he slipped through betweenthe end and the hopper bottom; the face of the end 5 is cut away toprovide a. broad and the plate which is sufficient in extent, along theretaining end 5 from end to end of the notch 7 to allow the flap of theenvelop to spring out from the=body-thereof, as it will do naturally, asenvelops are. ordinarily made, sothat the finger 9 will readily enthatedge of the notch that lies downward is provided with side notches 11triangular in'shape that give still greater freedom to the flap 6, whilethe inward projecting ends 12 below the notch 1 serveto' prevent any imr0 er bendingor arching of the envelop.

for ed expelling fin V nectedoto the end 13 o' a leYer-j'14,.wh ichisitself pivoted to the hopper. 1."the p votal c n e t b in ne r therearen ofthel cover. as s and lifts it over er 9 s pivotally con-v at;an convenient I deep rectangular notch or open1ng 7 through gageunderneath the. flap 8 and in front of the body 10 .of the envelop.Preferably,

in the drawing the connection is made to a stud that rises from thebottom 3 of the hopper and the lever 14: is so angled or arched that inits rocking or oscillatingmovement which will be described, it is at alltimes clear from the envelops in the hopper. The downward throw of thelever 14 is regulated by an adjusting screw 19 properly maintained withrelation to the.

' this description, and the one which I prefer to use employs an airconduit and pneumatic bellows, of which'the primary actuating bellows 17is itself actuated by the oper ator by means of a push key 18 thatresembles the ordinary levers of the typewriter, and the lever is shownto be actuated as a suction bellows expanded by the operator igainst thetension of the spring 20 which serves to collapse it when the finger ofthe operator is removed from the key 18. The air conduit 21 leads fromthe suction bellows 17 to the bellows 22 that is secured to theframe-work of the hopper 1 at some posit-ion convenient to the lever 14and a link 23 pivotally connected to the bellows 22, or an' extensionfrom the bellows 22 is also pivotally connected to the lever 14: andactuates the lever 14 upon the actuation of the bellows 17. Acounter-weight 24 on the projecting rear end of the lever 14 isadjustable to bring the acting parts into a condition of substantialbalance.

The envelop, pushed by'the finger 9 into feeding relation between thepaper guides 25 and the platen 26, is seized by the platen and fedforward when the platen is turned by the operator in the usual way, andbrings the envelop to a position for the action of the type thereon,after which the continued movement of the platen carries the envelopbehind the guide 27 and against the rest 28 that is located in aninclined position above the platen and somewhat to the rear. of theupper run thereof; the envelop takes a position against this rest withan inclination that is practically parallel to that which it occupied inthe hopper 1. If the final storage opper 16 is used, a pair of splitfingers 29 are secured to the front of the finger 9 in relation toengage between their spreading members and the'top edge of the envelop10 when the front end of the lever 14 is depressed in the act ofinserting a following envelop under the platen. The split and spreadingfingers 29 are of light, flexible, resilient material and aresufficiently rigid to maintain their hold on the envelo and draw it upfrom under the pressure p ate 6 until the bottom of the envelop clearsthe top of the pressure plate 6, and also until the now top edge of theenvelop engages the projecting bar 31, which stops the envelop andallows the fingers 29 to draw away from the envelop and release it whenit drops on the now top or forward'surfaoe of the plate 6, and slidesinto the hopper 16. The plate 6 is in pivotal relation with the rear ofthe hopper 16, and serves not only to press back the envelop against therest 28, but after the envelop has been transferred to a position abovethe plate 6 and has dropped and slid partly downit serves to continuethe travel of the envelop into the hopper 16 as it is itself lifted bythe next succeeding envelop in process of transfer. The fingers 29travel clear of the plate 6 which is deeply notched between its ends andat the notched part forms no obstacle to the fingers 29, although itsend parts 6. extend back and project over the envelop resting againstthe rest 28.

The storage hopper 16 is not necessarily used with the remainder of theattachment. It is preferably employed where quantities of envelops areto be addressed because it is capable of containing a larger number ofenvelops than can be stored at one time on the machine without it. Themachine without this storage hopper is shown in Fig. 1, which issuflicient for the storage of a few envelops, 30 or 40, and this may beremoved by hand and the use of the storage hopper 16 entirely omitted ifdesired.

What I claim is 1. A feeding device for typewriters, having incombination a hopper, an oscillatory expelling member engaging acrossthe delivery end thereof, a lever actuating the same, a counterweightmounted on the end-of said lever, pneumatically controlled actuatingmeans connecting said arm to the key board of the typewriter, and a keycontrolling said pneumatic actuating means.

2. A feeding device for typewriters, having in combination a hopper, anexpelling member adapted to successively remove individual envelops fromthe delivery end of said hopper, a lever pivotally supported near itscentral point and adapted to actuate the same, an adjustablecounter-weight slidable on the arm of said lever, pneumatic actuatingmeans connecting said armto the key board of the typewriter, and a keycon trolling said pneumatic means.

3. A feeding device for typewriters, having in combination a hopper, anexpellin member, a lever adapted toactuate said expelling member, abellows actuating said.

lever, a second bellows adjacent the key board of the typewriter, a keyadapted to.

tion with a platen, of means for feeding 6. The combination of atypewriter provided with a rest adapted to catch the printed matter andalso provided with a feeding device having an oscillating expellingmem-' r, a receiving hopper, means carried by said expelling member forgrasping and lifting said printed matter from said rest, means fordetaching said printed matter from said lifting means and means forguiding said printed matter into said hopper, substantially asdescribed. v

7 In combinationfwith a typewriter provided'with a rest adapted to,catch the printed matter and also providedwith a feeding device, areceiving hopper, means for lifting said printed matter from said rest,means for detaching said printed matter from said lifting means and apivoted guide disposed on either side of the path of the lifting Copies'of this patent may be obtained for means and under the detaching meansand adapted tobe moved out of the path of the returning expelling memberand to return to position, substantially as described.

8. In a typewriting machine, in combination with a rest above the platenperiphery adapted to retain the written sheets supported on theperiphery of the platen, a' eeding'device having an oscillating expel-.ling member, a receiving hopper, means carried on said expelling memberfor grasping and lifting the written sheets, means for detaching thesame from the expelling member and means for guiding the same into thehopper, substantially as described.

9. Ina typewriting machine, in combination with a platen a rest abovethe platen adapted to retain the printed sheets, a feeding device havingan expelling member, a receiving hopper, fingers carried by saidexpelling member adapted to lift the written sheets from the rest, meansfor detaching means for guiding said sheets into the hopper,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof,.I sign this specification in the presence of twowitnesses.

. CHARLES L. DAVIS. Witnesses.

' CHARLES F. BURTON,

VIRGINIA G. SrR 'r'r.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissionerot Patents,Washingtom'ID. G." 4

- said written sheets from said fingers and

